Weymouth mayor proposes $143.7M budget

Weymouth Mayor Susan Kay is proposing a $143.7 million spending plan for next year that comes in below what some town departments had requested, but she says it would keep services close to this year's levels.

WEYMOUTH – Mayor Susan Kay is proposing a $143.7 million spending plan for next year that comes in below what some town departments had requested, but she says it would keep services close to this year’s levels.

Kay formally presented the budget for the spending year that begins July 1 at Tuesday night’s town council meeting. The proposal is a 2.9 percent increase from this year’s budget figure.

The mayor said money will be tight again next year, and the proposed budget would not give some departments, including school, police, fire and public works, as much as they requested.

“Overall, I’m glad we were able to balance the budget without layoffs and severely handicapping departments,” she said. “Am I satisfied with it? Absolutely not.”

Kay’s budget proposal includes $60.1 million for the schools – a $1.8 million increase over the school budget the council approved last June. She also plans to ask the council to approve spending an additional $900,000 in reserve money on schools.

School officials had requested $64.9 million and said they will need at least $61.5 million to provide all of the services provided this year.

For the first time since 2008, the town will begin a new budget year without facing a deficit left over from not spending the state’s mandated minimum amount on the town’s schools in prior years. The town recently used $450,000 in reserve money to wipe out the last of the deficit, which was over $1 million a year ago. The deficit piled up beginning in the 2009 spending year, when the economic recession triggered widespread cuts.

Kay said she expects that her proposal for next year will meet the state’s minimum for school spending going forward.

The mayor’s plan would also include a 2 percent raise for non-union town employees. That’s the same amount that members of several unions will see in the coming budget year under new contracts that were agreed upon this year.

No fee increases are being sought.

Kay is also requesting $800,000 to cover a deficit in the town’s snow and ice budget from this past winter.

The mayor’s submission of the budget begins the council’s review process, which typically ends with a vote sometime in June.

“This is the start of a very long process,” council President Patrick O’Connor said.

The annual town meeting, in which the mayor will present the budget to the public, is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. May 12 in the Adams Middle School auditorium.

Christian Schiavone may be reached at cschiavone@ledger.com. Follow him on Twitter @CSchiavo_Ledger.